Absorbent articles such as diapers, training pants, incontinence garments, and the like conventionally include a liquid permeable body-facing liner, a liquid impermeable outer cover, and an absorbent core (also referred to as an absorbent body or absorbent structure) formed separate from the outer cover and liner and disposed therebetween for taking in and retaining liquid (e.g., urine) exuded by the wearer.
Absorbent articles may be designed with extensible or elastic components that improve donning, fit during wear, and/or removal of the article from the wearer. In some of these absorbent articles, the outer cover and/or the liner may be somewhat stretchable and/or elastic to permit expansion of the article when necessary to provide a better fit on the wearer. For example, a child pulling on a pair of training pants typically pulls both upward on the pants and outward on the pants (e.g., at the waist) to widen the waist opening and pull the pants up over the buttocks and hips to the child's waist. Accordingly, an expansion force (i.e., a donning force) is applied to the article during donning to increase its dimensions.
One factor in reducing the risk of leakage from such pants is the quality of fit of the pants around the wearer's body and the magnitude of the retraction loading of the pants after the pants have been extended during donning. Ideally, the pants would be fully elastic, having a limited extension loading enabling the article to be very easily expanded and donned. The retraction loading of such an ideal article would be equal to or greater than the donning force required to expand the pants during donning. However, typical materials suitable for use in absorbent articles have different extension loadings and retraction loadings. The difference between the extension and retraction loading causes pants to be designed with either low extension loading and very little to no retraction loading, very high extension loading and satisfactory retraction loading, or a balanced extension loading and retraction loading which results in a narrow range of fit. Typically, an elastic waistband, elastic side panels, and elastic leg elements provide existing pants with a satisfactory extension loading and retraction loading around the wearer's waist and legs to provide good fit and prevent leakage.
Each layer of material of the absorbent article may contribute to the extension loading required for donning of the article and the retraction loading of the pants that determines the quality of fit against the body of the wearer. It is known to reduce the required extension loading of certain components of the pants (e.g., absorbent structure) to decrease the required extension loading of the assembled pants to make the pants easier to don. However, the design of such pants with improved donning (i.e., decreased extension loading) has included selection of pants components based solely on the extension loading properties, while the amount of retraction in the pants component has been overlooked. The resulting pants with reduced extension loading for improved donning results in pants having less retraction loading and a more loose fit against the body of the wearer. There is a need, therefore, to improve the construction of the stretchable absorbent article to increase the retraction loading to improve the fit of the article while maintaining the ease of donning of the article.